Which description best captures the focus of shaping?

• A. Reinforcing closer and closer approximations toward the target.
• B. Reinforcing early approximations before considering closer ones.
• C. Extinguishing all responses until the target is produced.
• D. Providing punishment for wrong attempts.

Answer: (A)

Shaping builds the target behavior by reinforcing each successive step that gets closer to it. You start with a behavior the learner already shows, then reward responses that resemble the desired behavior more closely, gradually requiring even closer approximations before giving reinforcement. Over time, prompts fade and the criterion is raised until the exact target behavior is emitted. This focus on reinforcing incremental steps toward the goal is what makes shaping effective.

The other descriptions don’t capture that incremental, forward-progress approach. Reinforcing early attempts without moving toward closer approximations isn’t shaping, and extinguishing all responses or punishing wrong attempts describes other procedures (extinction or punishment) rather than the gradual reinforcement of closer and closer targets.